Car-dumper control



Aug. 26', 1930. A. F. CASE CAR BUMPER CONTROL Filed Jan. 10. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 26, 1930..

A. F. .CASE

.CAR DUMPER CONTROL Filed Jan. 10, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1|ll hhhhhhhhhhhll I n llllllllllllrhhhhluhhllll l Patented Aug. 26, 1930 Y I firms,

ARTHURF; cAs ,o'F CLEVELANQDHIO, assrc-z -noi To. T wammaiaaamea a i r l co yrrANY, or oLEve AnnoHraA oonronn rroiv orforrrg I cm m epma p hpp'l ication filed January i927. SerialNo;160',Q38 .I f

type the cradle which receives vthe car is moved upwardlyvto ma, point Where "the 10 cradle is to be-turned and the cradle is then turned about two pivots and dumps the con tents of the car into a so-called discharge pan which iscarried by a girder extending across the frame of thedumper and movable'vertica'lly in-guidestin order that-the height. at 'whichthedumpi-ng takes place maybe varied. Generally, the ends of'the girder slide in two guides in the two. front vertical cor;

' ner'posts of the dumper frame, and-to raise and lower the girder and pan, the ends ofthe girderare provided with nuts which engage two long upright .screws which extend up along thecorner posts andwhichare adapted to be simultaneously 'turnedifinone direc-' 5 tion'or the other by suitable'power operated means under control of the operator. r

when the cradle reaches the 7 point where turning movement is to begin, the axis of the turning movementis established by. the. em

gagement of a pair of pins which are carried at theifront upper corners of the cradle with a pair of: hooks or jaws which are provided on the girder near its ends,'the pins remaining in engagement with the hooks during the forward and return turning movements.

In the operation of these car dumpers, it isdesirable and at times necessary that the dumper handle a large number of loaded cars in a given time, making itnecessary that 40' the cycle of movements of each dumping operation, including the: elevating-of the cradle,

its turning to dump, the return turning mo- 1 tion, and the lowering of the cradle take placema short space of time This makes it'nec essary that the cradle be elevated,v turned in both directions and thenlowered rapidly,

but in'the operationof these dumpers' itis essential that near the'end' of the elevating movement of the cradle the latter be decelerated so-that the cradlewillcome to an almost other material.

dead [stop when the engage hooks to initiate: the turning movement, also :that the turning motion be "quickly;accelerated;and q then ghrought to a 'stopat theaend ofgtheturn ing motion and that on the return motion the turning motion be accelerated and then decelerated near the end of the return turn ing motion, and thenaccelerated at the start of the lowering movement and. finallydec eleerate'd'and stopped in itsnornial car receivng pos1t1on.-

In-mostof and decelerating is controlled manually by the operator, generally by hand operated control of the motive means-of the hoist mechanism, any other mode of operationibeing ren-.

d'eredj difiicult I because: of variables -.introduced by the adjustment of the pan girder,'it

being understood that the location or height of the pivots and hooks carried by the girder at which the decelerating and accelerating occur. v I The principal object ofthe present'iinvenr tionisto provide means wherebythemove ment of the/cradle can be controlled auto-1 matioally, particularly in so far as the aecelerating and decelerating :of its; movements are concerned'regardless of'the position of these car .dumpers operation at the present time, the matter ofaccelerating determines the times in the cycle of operation the span girder and regardless of the fact that it'is or may be adjusted vertically from time to time to suit loading conditions, as, for example, in loading avessel with coal-or J This result is accomplished by my inven tion, which comprises a control mechanism which may involve one-or.more' switches adapted to be operated part suitably connected tothe cradle hoist mechanism, there being provided alsoj-a connection between apartiofthe control mechanismrand the girder shifting mechanism soxthat the times or'instants that the control mechanismfunctions to" accelerate or decelerate the movement ofthe cradle will be dependent upon the positionofthe girder in-the dumper frame and will be correct for any-position offthe girder.

' My invention may befurtherbriefly sum 7 marized as consisting in certain novel com- I binations and arrangements of parts which will'be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

In' the accompanying sheets of drawings illustrating anembodiment of my invention, Fig. 1 is a view whollydiagrammatic, illustrating conventionally a car dumper of the lifting type witha suitable cradle hoist mechanism with my improved control applied thereto; and Fig; 2 is a view on an enlarged o 1 vertically Ea. .cradbell until the pivot pins scale and also more or less diagrammatic, illustrating one form of the control mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings, the up ifght oblong figure. 10. represents the frame .lthe-dumperin which is adapted to move carried by the cradle engage hooks carried by the vertically adjustable girder 12 (shown 'infull linesin one position and by dotted linesfiin a second" position), whereupon the cradleis turned todump the contents of the the girder.

car, which is adapted to. bev supported on the cradle, into the. pan'13 which is: carried'by Any suitable hoistmechanism maybe employed for th'ecradle, and any'approved form of a pair of sheave carriages 19,.the upper sheaves of which receive the bights or loops of rope reevingbetween the drum or: drums of the hoist-mechanism and the cradle may besutilizedr. In the formillustrated, a shaft- 14 which isgeared to. one or more driving motors (not shown.) is connected by suitable gearing 15to a pair of rope drums16 and 17, each of which receives a two-part cable. 18. These cables pass about the lower sheaves v of two separate cables 20 which are attached.

to. opposite ends of the cradle. 1

No. attempt isamade to show the actual trend of'these several cables and all of the sheaves about which they will be passed, but inFig. 1; thep'ar'tsofi the cables 20 areshown aspassing. aboutsheaves 21which it will be;

understood will allbe mounted on the frame 10*but part being shown removed from the framefor the sake of clearness. I

In Fi 1 I haveshown. at the front corners of the rame 10 the two vertical screws 22 for raising and lowering the girder-12 with its dischargepan: 13. While these screws may bexsimultaneously turned: by any suitable'mechanism, which is motor: operated or.

course, injthis instance the lower ends of.

the screws are shown as; connected by bevel. gearingtoa horizontalfshaft'23 geared to a. driving motorindicated at 24';-

- The. control mechanism forming the sub ject mat-terof the presentinvention is indicated conventionally in Fig. .1 at 25. This;

control mechanism may assume different forms, but 1n one .embod1mentj whlch practice has demonstrated works very effectively,

.I provide. a series; of switches and a trip prior to the starting of the cradle hoisting operation so that the movement of the cradle is required to be accelerated and de'celerated always at the proper times regardless of the position of the girder.

In the embodiment illustrated, the control mechanism includes five switches, three of which'are designated 26, 27 and 2,8 and are designed to. function during the cradle hoistand the forward turning motion while the other two switches, designated 29 and 30, are designedto function during the re turn turning movement and lowering of the cradle. Any suitable form of switches may be employed, which if desired may open. and

close with a snap action. In this instance 2 these two sets of switches are operated by a pair of traveling nuts 31 and 32 on a screw 33: which can be connected in any way to the cradle hoist mechanism, this connection beillustrated diagrammatically by chain.

and sprocket gearing designated 34 between one'end of-the screw 33 and shaft 14 of the cradle hoist mechanism. The purpose of the switch 26is to. slow down the upward movement of the cradle just before the pins engage the. books about which the cradle turns in the dumping operation. The. purpose of the next switch 27 is to accelerate the turning movement of the cradle, and the function of switch 28vis to stopthe turning movement of l the cradle in the dumpingoperation.

At the end of the dumping operation, the operator reverses his controller. This renders the switches 26,27 and'28 inoperative and: renders operativeswitches 29 and 30.

On reversal of his controller, the screw 33.

is driven in. the reverse direction and nut 32 operates successively switches 29 and 30, switch 29 decelerating the turning movement just before the pins of the cradle leave the hookson the girder or just before theend of the return turning-movement, and switch 30 accelerating themovement of the cradle immediately after the start of the return vertical. movement. The downward movement may be stopped by. a limit switch which may be incorporated in the control mechanism but which may be located at some other point as for exampleso as tobe operated by the cradle itself.

As illustrated-in Fig. 2, when the nuts 31' and 32 are traveling toward. the left, nut 32 openssuccessively switches and 29 which.

at. this. time perform no function and nut 31 closes successively switches 26, 27; andf28, 3;-

and whentraveling in the reverse direction, nut 31 opens successively switches 28, 27 and 26-which while being opened perform no function and nut 82 closes successively switches '29and 30. Themanner in which the closure of the several switches operates to decrease or increase the rateof movement of,

the cradle-is immaterialto my invention in-v asmuchas this willdepend upon the form of theelectrical equipment utilized in operating the dumper. They may control resistances orf equivalent means which in any, desired manner controlthe torque and-rateof move-1 ment ofithe driving motors, orthey may. suitably. control the output ore. motor driven; generator whichsupplies current to the-driving motors.

\Itis obvious that if the pan girder'is elevated, switches 26,27 and 28 must be closed by coupling a part of the control mechanism t'o'the girderhoist mechanism so that-a given ve'rtical adjustment of the girder,either up or down, will'varv by 'theproper amount the normal relative positions .of the. traveling 1 nuts and switches prior to the start of the dumping movement. .That .isxtosay, the movement of the girde'nsh fts relatively an appropriate amount the switches and nuts,

and in this instance the switches are shifted 1 relative to the nuts." To bring this about,

I they are mounted on a movable carriage '34 which is normally stationary and is moved only when the pan girder is shifted, this carriage, in this -1nstance,,be1ng moved by a screw 35 which, as showrnis alongside screw 33 and is mounted with the latter. on acommon support 36. Oneend of this screw is the shaft 28 which connected to an appropriate part of the girder hoist mechanism so that it will be turned so i as to shift the carriage34 whenever the pan girder is moved, and'while any suitable driving orv connecting .means may be employed, this is illustrated conventionally i-n-F-ig. ,1 in the form of shafting and bevel gears des-, ignated as a wholeby the reference character 37 arranged so as to connect the screw 35 to ing screws 22. I

Thus it will be seen that with improvements itis only necessary for the'opera'tor to shift his controller to start the cradleupward and then to reverse his controller to start the return movement, the'necessary slowing down and speedingup taking place automatically at the right times in the cycle of operations regardless of any movement 3 which may be imparted to the'pan girder.

turns the girder adjuste y I L v andaconnect on between he cont-rol'mech- 'While I have shown'my invention diagram-v matically andhave indicated one way of ob taining the results,'- other ways may occur to one skilledin the art, and I therefore, aim in my claimsto cover all modificationswhich do notinvolvea departure from the spirit and scope of my invention in its broadestaspects.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: I

1.. In combination with acar dumper having a cradle'faclapted to be elevated. therein and then turned, and having a vertically-ad= 1 justable discharge pan for receiving the contents of a car, a hoist forthe cradle, a hoist for the pan, and-a'control mechanismfor the cradle hoist connected to the pan hoist.

.2. In combination .with a cardumperof the lifting type having a cradle, a discharge:

pan, a hoist for elevating and turning the cradle, a hoist for changing the elevation of the pan, a control mechanism for the cradle hoist composed of relatively movable members, and movement transmitting means be-g' tween the pan hoist and said control mechanism'to vary the relative position of saidmembers of the latter.

3. In combinationwith a car; dumper of.

the lifting type having a cradle and avertically. adjustable dischargepam-a hoist" for; 5

elevating and turning the cradle, a hoist for varyingthe position ofthe discharge pan, a control mechanism for the cradle hoist and 'movement transmitting connections from "both the cradle hoist and the pan hoist to said connection between the pan hoist and the con-v trol mechanism for varying the'normal relative positions of said switching means and travelling member.

5. In combination With a car dumper having a-cradle' and a discharge pan, a cradle hoist for elevatingand turning the cradle, a pan hoist for varying the position .of the discharge ,pan, control mechanism for the cradle hoist'including a series of switches and a travelling nut connected to the cradle hoist forsuccessively operating the switches,

anisin and thepan' hoist for varying'the'n'or mallrelative positions of the travelling nut v andswitchesas-the height of thepan is ad'- justed. h i

In combination withfa car dumper of the lifting type having a cradle and a vertically adjustable cross girder carrying a' discharge pan, a cradle-hoist for elevating the cradle to a height depending upon the position of the girder and for then turning the cradle, a girder hoist for varying the height'of the girder and pan, a control mechanism for the cradle hoist comprising a plurality of successively operated switches, a screw connected tothe cradle hoist and having a travelling nut for operating the switches, and a movement transmitting connection between a part of said control mechanism and the girder hoist to adjustthe nor- -mal relative positions otsaid switches and nut whenthe position ofthe justed.

girder is ading type having means for varying the height of discharge comprising a series of control members adapted to be successively and auto- ,matically operated for accelerating and decelerating the speedof operation of the hoist,

an actuator for said control members, means for relatively moving said actuator and said control members for normal operation of the control mechanism, and means for varying the initialrelative positions of saidcon trol members and said actuator in accordance with variations in the height of dis charge;

9. .In comblnation with a car dumper having a cradle adapted to be elevated therein and then turned, a discharge pan vertically adjustable for varying the height of discharge, a hoist for the cradle, a control mechanism remote fromthe pan and cradle for automatically accelerating and decelerating the movement of the cradle at different points of the dumping cycle, and means responsive to thevertical adjustments of the discharge pan for changing the times of operation of the control mechanism. 7

10.'In an electric'car dumper, means including an. electric motor for raising the car from an initial position, means for causing the car to tilt when it has been raised to a predetermined point, an apron for directing the delivery of the material from the, car, means for adjusting the position of said apron, and means including limit switch mechanism jointly operated in response to the movements of said apron and car for eilecting a reduction in the speed of said motor prior to the initiation of said tilting 4 operationand then an increase of the speed of said motor after the initiation-of said tilting operation.

11. In an electric car dumper, means including an electric motor for raising the car from an initial position and for lowering the car to said initial position while maintaining the car substantially horizontal, means for causing the car to tilt when it has been raised to apredetermined point and for causing the car to assume its substantially horizontal position when said motor operates to lower the car to its initial position, an apron for directing the delivery 0]": the material from the car, means for adjusting the position of the apron, limit switch mechanism operated synchronously with said motor for automatically reducing the speed of said motor prior to the initiation of the tilting movement of the car and also for an interval prior to the restoration of the car to the horizontal position, and means operated in accordance with the operation of said adjusting means for automatically adjusting the said mechanism to take into account the adjustment of the position of the apron.

12. In an electric car dumper, a cradle, a car to be dumped secured therein, an apron for directing the delivery of the material from the car, an adjustable support for said apron, relatively movable cooperating elements carried respectively by said apron and cradle which form a hinge joint about which the cradle is tilted to dump the material from the car, meansincluding an electric motor for raisin the cradle until said n elements engage to l orm said hinge joint and then further raise one end of the cradle about said joint to spill the material from signature.

' ARTHUR F. CASE. 

